The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

"What kind of scene is this, all this jostling and crowding?" Taram raised his voice, suppressing the noise. "Didn't Taliro say that the general store only has level 5 and above cards! Look at yourselves, can you afford even one of those gem coins?"

The lively atmosphere suddenly quieted down for a moment.

The tribesmen looked at each other in bewilderment, and each summoned their own card magic interface.

A semi-transparent screen appeared in the air, displaying the gem coin balance in the corner:
[237], [518], [891], [403]...

Even though they lived frugally and saved every gem coin they collected each day to buy important supplies, most of them still had no more than 1000 gem coins in their account.

Level 5 cards typically cost 1500 gem coins or more.

Reality is like a bucket of cold water, but it can't extinguish the longing in my eyes.

Taram looked at the disappointed yet stubborn faces of his people and understood. He cleared his throat, his voice softening:

"Alright, don't be so dejected. Here's the deal: everyone, gather your gem coins and I'll go shopping on behalf of the entire tribe with Taliro. You all hurry up and process the game you've brought back, and prepare for the hunting season celebrations!"

He raised his head and looked at the tranquil castle not far away, his eyes filled with solemnity and anticipation:

"Lord Moran will be staying in our tribe for three days, which is just enough time to make preparations. After the procurement is completed, I will formally invite Lord Moran and her daughter to participate in our Tatali tribe's hunting festival."

"Invite Lord Moran?" The tribesmen's eyes lit up again. This way, they could not only meet Lord Moran, but also enjoy the feast at the celebration together. Perhaps they could even collect the tableware that Lord Moran had used and use it to bring good luck when drawing cards!
“Yes!” Taram nodded. “For this celebration, we will use our best game, the freshest mountain fruit, and the strongest rye wine to entertain Lord Moran and Miss Sylvia!”

The proposal was immediately approved by everyone.

"I'll go prepare the roasted whole deer antlers!"

"I'm going to pick the freshest moonberries!"

"I dug up the Lei Guo wine that I buried last year!"

"I took the kids to pick shimmering vines to decorate the tent!"

The crowd quickly dispersed and got to their own tasks.

A festive, joyful atmosphere began to permeate the valley.

Taram and Taliro went into the chieftain's tent and began to tally the {gem coin cards} that the tribespeople had gathered there.

Each {Gem Coin Card} represents the hope that a family has saved up through frugality.

The final number is set at: 14000 gem coins.

This was a huge sum of money for a remote mountain tribe of fewer than two hundred people. All the Tatali people contributed their entire savings.

Taram wrapped all the {Gem Coin Cards} in animal hide and said to Taliro, "Let's go see Lord Moran and Miss Sylvia."

Inside the grocery store, Sylvia was lying on the counter, her little face pressed against the cool wooden surface, gazing longingly out the door.

"Mom, will he ever come back? It's been so long..."

As soon as he finished speaking, two figures appeared outside the porch.

Chief Talam walked ahead, with Taliro half a step behind. The two stopped in front of the porch, straightened their armor and face paint, and then solemnly stepped inside.

“Lord Moran,” Taram said, striking his chest with his right hand and bowing deeply, “I am Taram, chieftain of the Tatali tribe. Thank you for visiting our valley and bringing us such a precious opportunity.” His Common was more fluent than Taliro’s, and his voice was as strong as ancient wood.

Moran stood up and nodded slightly in return.

Sylvia immediately slid off the bar stool, straightened up, and tried to appear more reliable: "Hello! Welcome back again!"

“Miss Sylvia, may we take a look at the catalog first?” Taram asked.

“Of course!” Sylvia nodded.

This time, both Taram and Tarillo watched it carefully.

Every single card was incredibly tempting to them, but unfortunately, they couldn't afford many of them.

Taram carefully memorized several cards that were extremely important but currently unaffordable even with the combined resources of his entire tribe. Then, he wrapped the animal hide in his hands and presented it to the counter with both hands:

"This is a collection of {Gem Coin Cards} from all the members of our tribe, worth a total of 14000 Gem Coins. We'd like to buy three {Level 5 Healing Potions}, one {Level 5 Antidote Potion}, and one {Level 5 Magic Card - Thorn Strangler}. Is that enough?"

When he mentioned the "antidote potion," his gaze unconsciously drifted to Taliro, whose arm bore a fresh, dark purple bite mark. Although it had been treated with herbs, the toxins remained.

Sylvia took back the catalog, flipped to the corresponding page, and pointed to the prices with her little finger, reading them out word by word: "Level 5 Healing Potion: 2500 Gem Coins each; Level 5 Antidote Potion: 3000 Gem Coins each; Level 5 Magic Card - Thorn Strangler: 4000 Gem Coins each... Total..."

She also had a hard time, how much was it again?

Sylvia turned to look at Kaba and Sentai beside her, and she had an idea!
"Click! Calculate how many gem coins you have in total. If you get it right, I'll hire you first next time!"

咔吧头颅中的灵魂之火跳动着，拿起纸板列起了算式：“2500×3+3000+4000=14500。”

After it finished calculating, it held up the cardboard.

Sylvia glanced at them before saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Taram. The total price of these cards you need is 14500 gem coins. You're 500 gem coins short of what you need to buy them all."

Taram's brow furrowed deeply.

A shortfall of 500 gem coins may not sound like much, but for a tribe that has already spent all its savings, it is a hurdle that is difficult to overcome.

He glanced at the wound on Tarillo's arm, then thought of the hunter with the broken leg and the old man with his old injury flaring up in the tent...

Should we buy one less healing potion? But all three wounded soldiers need it.

Abandon the antidote potion? Taliro is one of the tribe's best young hunters; we can't let him become a threat.

Don't want the Thorn Strangler Card? But this card can greatly reduce casualties when hunting large predators. It's a life-saving trump card that I've been saving up to buy for a while, but I haven't had the chance to get it before...

Moran noticed their predicament, thought for a moment, and said, "Your tribe's hunting season just ended recently, right?"

Taram and Taliro both looked up at her.

Moran's gaze fell on the silver-blue wolf skin shawl draped over Taram's shoulders, then swept over the finely tanned leather armor at Taliro's waist:
“I’m looking to acquire some fine animal hides to make leather armor to fill my magic supplies shop. Tatari-tanned hides are renowned in Valen. If you’re willing to use hides of equal value to offset the 500 gem coin shortfall, the deal can be struck.”

Taram's eyes lit up.

“Of course I would!” He nodded without hesitation. “Our tribe’s warehouse happens to have a batch of freshly tanned animal hides. If Lord Moran doesn’t mind, we’ll go and fetch them immediately!” (End of Chapter)